Alan Meerow
The second part of our conversation with Spirit of Harmony Foundation founder and president, Todd Rundgren.
AM: Craft and inspiration seem to be kind of the twins of not just musical creativity, but other kinds of muses. You've talked about how Laura Nyro influenced your early solo work, and she was kind of the catalyst for my rediscovery of your solo music afte...
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Listening to music
Sitting Down With The President, Part 1
Alan Meerow
Despite a schedule from hell, and a bad case of food poisoning, Spirit of Harmony founder and president Todd Rundgren found time to sit down with Music In A Word editor Alan Meerow at the Tyrolean Getaway in Stowe, Vermont for a wide-ranging interview. Here is part one of what will ultimately be three posts for our blog.
AM: In his 2007 book, "Musicophilia," t...
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The Power of Music
Don Baragiano
A long time Cincinnati fan contacted me yesterday telling me about her 9 year old autistic son. She calms him down by playing my “Hejira” CD. Isn't that incredible? It’s gratifying knowing what I do is healing as well as entertaining.
“....Don, my 9 year old son, Bobby, is autistic and has listened to the HEJIRA CD 1,000’s of times in the last few years. He wo...
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Words and Music
Alan Meerow
“The effective combination of melody, harmony, rhythm and tempo with lyric and its structure can create a force to be reckoned with. It can change lives. It can topple empires.” - Paul Pattison, author of “Writing Better Lyrics,” and professor, Berklee College of Music.
You love music. I doubt that you would even be reading this were it not for that simple fac...
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How Music Shaped A Family, Part 1
Sara Stromseth-Troy
ALLEN, TEXAS -- Music has accompanied Ian Bui's life story, beginning with his childhood in Vietnam, continuing after the fall of Saigon when his family moved to the United States, and onward through the lives and accomplishments of his children. In Part 1, Ian describes how music education has influenced his life and the lives of his children.
Ian shar...
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Remembering You Today
Adam Ezra and Bruce Fredericks
88+ Ways Music Can Change Your Life, published by Keep Music Alive, is a compilation of over 150 inspirational stories & quotes from musicians, music educators and music lovers from all over the world. Included are a number of stories from Grammy winning and Platinum selling artists & composers. The authors have given Music In A Word pe...
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Music In Your Car
Carol Swanson
Hey you! Do you sing? I sing in my car; I have many diverse albums on my iphone, and the Bluetooth in my car makes it all so easy! I like Broadway tunes, jazz, and songs by various artists. The music selection depends on my mood. Nobody can hear me, and that’s probably a good thing! I don’t think the world is ready for me singing “Matchmaker”.
https://www.yo...
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King Tobias: Living His Musical Dream Part 2
Sara Stromseth-Troy
In the first installment of this article we met guitar prodigy and ultimate Beatles fan King Tobias and his family, and learned how Todd Rundgren facilitated King meeting one of his idols. In Part 2, King's dreams come true.
KING MEETS RINGO STARR
Richard Kerris describes the meeting between King and Ringo Starr:
“As soon as Ringo met King, he s...
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Música do Coração, Part 2. Twin Sons of Different Baianas
Alan Meerow
[PLEASE NOTE: Most of the music tracks in this post contain a link that will open a new window in YouTube]
Bahia, the largest of Brazil's Northeast states, is also the bastion of Afro-Brazilian culture, rich in history and marvelous music. Two contemporaries, children of the 50's and 60's and friends since college, have forged their unique musical paths, but came ...
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Blues in Schools
Cliff Yankovich
As one of the roving reporters for this blog I got to witness a classic example of How Things Ought To Work recently. With a heads up from Lowell's Harmonica in Chief, Chuck Myers, I sat in on a wonderful example of pretty much everything the Spirit of Harmony exemplifies. Chuck is a member of the West Michigan Blues Society (http://www.wmbs.org/) and he let m...
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